


I am the Father

by PeterStark



Series: Messages Recieved [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Everyone wants to protect Peter, Family Drama, May Finds Out, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Past Character Death, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Precious Peter Parker, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 13:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19946707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterStark/pseuds/PeterStark
Summary: Peter and Tony have to tell May that Tony is Peter's father.It goes over as well as you'd expect.





	I am the Father

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, sorry this took so long. Been fighting the good fight of mental health. Hope you enjoy this!

Peter sat in Tony's car and texted Ned. 

Peter:

'I'm outside, can you buzz me in?'

"I'll meet you at Aunt May's tomorrow, alright? How's eleven sound?" Tony wondered.

"Yeah, it's cool." Peter nodded. "Sorry I fell asleep on you...literally." Peter cringed. He really had wanted to stay up through the movie, to see how he'd react, to talk, to do anything, and yet, he'd fallen asleep...on a super-hero's lap. Embarrassing.

"It's alright, kid. I think you should come over like that more often, if that's...something you want."

Peter's mood brightened. "Yeah, that'd be awesome, Tony."

Ned:

'It's broken, I'll come down.'

Tony smiled, then looked unsure. "Can I go for a hug, kid?"

"Yeah." Peter smiled and hugged Tony before he got out of the car and waved. He turned and walked to the door to the apartment and Ned pushed it open.

"Hey, bro. Dude, who's care is that? It's nice. Is someone famous in town or something?" Ned asked.

Peter turned and Tony had waited, only starting to move once he had seen Peter with Ned. Peter smiled at the thought. His dad had waited until he was safe before he started to pull away. "That's my dad."

"The...the secret one?" Ned said in a shocked, hush voice. "Holy shit!"

"Come on, Ned, let's go inside. I'll tell you about it inside."

-

"Fuck." Ned whispered, sitting in his bed and staring blankly at the wall.

"I know." Peter had only started playing one video, not enough to reveal anything personal about Tony, but enough to be proof.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Ned rubbed his face.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, pretty much my reaction too."

"So the internship you have is like..."

"It's real, but...I mean it's also so we can see each other."

Ned shook his head. "You even look like him, dude. I didn't even think about it before, but now that I see it I can't unsee it. Tony Stark is your dad. You're literally the son of Iron Man, what is your life?"

"I don't know, but I have to tell May tomorrow and I just...I don't know what to do or how to..."

Ned got up and threw his arms around Peter. "It's cool, Peter, Aunt May will always love you, I mean, it's not like we chose our parents and she'll be happy, you know? That you have someone."

"But I kept it a secret, Ned, that's the problem."

"She'll still love you, bro. She's like, the best aunt ever. She's cool." Ned pulled away and sat down. "Wanna play video games to distract you for a bit?"

"Have I ever told you that you're my best friend?"

"Yeah, but not enough. It's cool though." Ned teased. "You pick a game and I'll kick your ass until you forget all of the stress, okay?"

"Deal."

-

"Is everything okay, Peter?" May asked over a late breakfast.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, looking up from his cereal.

"It's just normally you eat everything in the fridge, but now you're playing with your cereal... Did you eat too much at Leed's place? Or worse yet, did you get food poisoning or something?" She teased, but the curiosity was still there.

"May, I think after some of the food you've made, my stomach is prepared to handle anything."

May laughed brightly. "No kidding. You and I can't physically get food poisoning anymore. Ben was so much better at cooking." She sighed, but not with sadness, with a fondness. It was nice to see her looking back fondly, without so much pain.

Peter smiled gently, then bit the bullet. "Um, someone's going to be here soon, to...talk to you."

May leaned back, looking confused. "About what?"

"Um...well, I found out a thing...a couple years ago, but I didn't...really know...and now I do and I couldn't tell you, but I wanted to, but I was afraid. I don't want things to change, well, not really. Maybe some change is good? Maybe like 40% change or...50%? I don't know. 46.8% maybe? I don't know."

"I can tell that by the endless babbling." May frowned and reached forward, putting her hand over Peter's. "You can tell me anything, bud. You know I larb you."

Peter smiled shyly and squeezed her hand. "I larb you too, May."

A knock sounded on the door. Peter jolted. His powers barely helped him to save his bowl from spilling. He looked down at his watch. "He's not supposed to be here for another hour! Shit!"

"Easy, bud. I've got it." She sighed. "You're so jumpy." She got up and headed for the door as Peter rushed to clear the table. It kept his hands busy and gave him a path to direct his nervous energy. May opened the door. "Mr. Stark?"

"Hello, Mrs. Parker. Do you mind if I come in? I know I'm a bit early and unannounced..."

"Come on in." May pulled the door open wide then turned to Peter with wide eyes. 'What the hell is going on?' She mouthed to Peter and he winced. "Make yourself at home." She said to Tony.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Sorry, bit early, I know." Tony sighed. "Pepper got annoyed with my pacing and she sent me away." He scratched at his beard and sat down on the sofa.

"Okay, so I've dealt with a silent Peter all morning and now an anxious Tony Stark. I'm concerned, like, properly concerned now." May sat down on the sofa, leaving a space between her and Tony. "Explain."

Peter slinked into the armchair. He looked up sheepishly at May, then to Tony. He'd been the one to lie, he shouldn't leave it to Tony to talk him out of this one. "Um...in middle school, we did some blood-typing things in biology... And I found out that my blood type doesn't match...not Mom's or Dad's. I have type O and Mom had type-A and Dad-um, Richard, to clarify, had type B. I knew...um back then that Dad, wasn't related to me by blood. I was kinda nervous to tell you guys, just in case you didn't know, because... I thought that...maybe if you knew I wasn't related to you at all that Uncle Ben and you might...leave me."

"Oh, honey, no never!" May snapped. "Family doesn't end in blood."

"I-I know that now..."

"To think you ever fucking believed that! I raised you better, mister. I don't care if you're half-alien, you're family."

'Even if I'm half-spider?' Peter didn't ask the question aloud. Fuck that. Peter could only deal with one identity crisis at a time. "Well, um, good to know. Uh...so...a thing happened...and I ah..."

"I can't understand the mumbling when he gets all stiff and anxious like this. Mr. Stark, I'm sure you know what he's talking about, so what's the deal?"

Tony opened his mouth, closed it, then straightened up and spoke. "Peter is my son, by blood."

May went quiet, then looked at Peter, then Tony, then Peter, then Tony. "What the actual fuck?" She stood up and looked at them again.

"May, don't get whiplash, please." Peter said. She looked a bit pale and her head certainly wasn't supposed to move that fast.

"Holy shit you even look like each other and... Jesus!" May began to pace back and forth. "How long have you two known?"

"Uhh..." Peter fumbled. "About having a different biological father than Dad or about him?"

"Peter, don't you dare make me ask again!"

"Couple months!" Peter shrieked, curling into his chair.

Tony frowned. "His whole life. I knew. Mary...didn't want me in Peter's life. I tried to respect her wishes but... I've always wanted to be in his life, I just was never a safe person for him to be around."

"Oh, and now you're safe? Getting shot at in a metal suit and flying into space is 'safe.'" May laughed hysterically. 

"Aunt May, don't-"

"Zip it, Mr. Parker, and go to your room, right now."

"But May-please-don't be mad at Tony, please-"

"I said: your room, now."

Peter crossed his arms and got up. He looked from Tony to May and frowned. This was exactly the last thing he wanted. What if he'd ruined his relationship with May? What if she never let him see Tony again? What if he'd lost them both? That was his luck after all...wasn't it? Wasn't he always doomed to lose the people he cared for?

-

Tony watched May pace. She was silent, which wasn't good. It unnerved him, mostly because he'd seen Pepper angry like this and it was the DANGER ZONE to be within a hundred yards of Pepper when she looked this pissed. May looked exactly like a pissed off Pepper Potts. Tony didn't say anything, he knew he deserved whatever explosion was about to come.

May stopped pacing and stared out the window. "We always knew it was something. Richard and Mary had a weird on and off thing and, we thought she'd moved on for a while, suppose she was with you then. Oh, Jesus." May leaned against the back of a chair. "Why were you never there? If you've known this whole time?"

"Mary didn't want me around. God knows I wanted to be, by the time I got my shit together I figured I'd just be breaking up a family if I showed up."

"So why now?" May asked. "Why make that wonderful boy go his whole life without his father? He lost both of his parents and his uncle and he's gone through so fucking much and you show up now?"

"I wish I had any...any good excuse. I'm a fucking mess, but I... There is only one thing I know and am one-hundred percent sure of. I love Peter, I'd do anything for him. I'd take bullets for him. I'd give him the world if I could. I want to have the chance to be a good father to him. I want to be the best father I can. That's...that's all I want."

May looked down. "I'm not happy about this. But...you're his father and he's a grown boy. He's allowed to make his decisions. I am his parent. He has school to go to. He can continue his internship as usual and if IF he wants to visit on the weekends, he can. He's just a kid. I don't want him in the news or the vultures following him around. He deserves to live his normal life."

"I couldn't agree more."

"I get final say. If I don't feel like he's safe with you or if he needs to stay here, then that's my final word. You don't have the right to argue with me. I don't care if your DNA is closer to his, he's my son." May straightened up, somehow looking intimidating. "Let me tell you something, Mr. Stark, that boy has lost too much. He's lost three father figures and his mother, do you understand? His biological dad wasn't there for him when he was born. His father died and my husband died too. If you fucking leave him or hurt him again I am coming after you and, tortured or not, nothing will prepare you for what I'll do to you. If you hurt Peter, you'll beg for death before I'm done, got it?"

Tony had never seen anyone more serious threaten him before. "Got it."

"He cares about you, you know? God knows I don't know how to say no to him...and I'm not taking away his chance at having a father figure, not after what he's gone through... Doesn't mean I won't feed your balls to you if you hurt him, though."

Tony flinched. "I promised, the last thing I want in the world is to hurt Peter."

"You already have."

Tony closed his eyes and lowered his head, the stab of failure was just as painful as it always had been. "I know."

"Just don't do it again."

-

Peter listened to the whole thing, not on purpose, he just really couldn't shut his hearing off. Well, he did have sound canceling headphones, so it sort of was on purpose, but that was just semantics, right? The door opened and May stepped in, looking a little redder in the face than usual. "Okay, mister, you're in a little bit of trouble."

Peter winced, but followed his aunt into the living room. "Sorry, May."

"Oh, I know. By the way, you're grounded. For a week. That includes internship and everything that isn't school, decathlon, and home, got it?"

Peter frowned. "Yes, May. I'm sorry, I really didn't know how to tell you."

"Yeah, well, this," she gestured from Peter to Tony, "was not your best idea, kid. I've talked to Mr. Stark and I'm going to set up some ground rules for...all of this. But we'll discuss that together later. Now, I think Mr. Stark should head out so we can officially start your grounding, okay?"

Peter nodded and threw his arms around May. "I'm sorry, May."

May hugged him back and kissed the top of his head. "It's alright. We'll figure this out, just like always. Larb you."

Peter pulled away and was glad Tony was already standing. It made it a bit less weird. He walked with Tony to the door, grateful that May went to the kitchen, probably to scrub dishes angrily. "I'm uh...sorry about the mess Mr-um Tony." Peter remembered that Tony didn't like being called Mr. Stark.

"It's not on you, kid?" Tony promised. "We'll figure it out. Are you alright?"

"Mmhm." Peter nodded, but he didn't know why Tony was worried about him.

"Alright, underoos. I'll see you soon, well, as soon as you can get out of the doghouse." Tony teased.

"Yeah, I'm sorry again...maybe I should have said something."

"You should have, but I can understand. You did the crime though, gotta do the time, both of us."

"I'll miss you."

"Me too, kiddo, always do." Tony pulled him into a hug. "See you soon, kid." Tony leaned down. "And if you need me for non-Peter Parker things, call me, got it, no going out on your own, check in, okay?"

Peter nodded. "Don't think I'll be able to right now, though." He chuckled and pulled away. "Bye, Tony."

"Bye, kid. Do what your aunt tells you, be good."

"Okaaaay. I will."

Tony put his hand on the door, hesitated, then left the apartment.

**Author's Note:**

> Take care.


End file.
